The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Public Sector Productivity Program Framework is a guide for National Productivity Organizations (NPOs) and public sector organizations in member countries in adopting coordinated approaches to raise productivity and improve quality of public service delivery. Through the this new program public sector organizations, institutions, and professionals of APO member countries would be able to demonstrate productivity enhancement leading to citizen satisfaction and greater public trust, cost-effectiveness and increased accountability in the use of public resources, national competitiveness and better quality of life.
In this framework, the APO and NPOs of member countries engage on five priority areas:
Service Quality
All about achieving service excellence through continuous and incremental improvement in quality of public services
Innovation Leadership
Hightlights the creation of more efficient and effective public sector policies and services by influencing others ib the accomplishment of the public task
E-Government
Refers to the effective use of information and communication technologies in operations of public sector organizations to facilitate and make transactions seamless
Regulatory Reform
Seeks to improve quality of regulations by removing unnecessary obstacles to competition, innovation and growth, while ensuring that regulations efficiently serve important social objectives
Citizen-centered Services
Promoting high levels of citizen satisfaction by learning citizen’s expectations, measuring service performances, ensuring accountability, and improving the capacity of the public sector
The targets of the public sector productivity programs comprise central and local governments, public service agencies, and public enterprises. Here, government encompasses central/federal and state/provincial government organizations and local bodies including municipal/city governments. Public service agencies cover all government owned agencies that provide services to businesses and citizens. Public enterprise includes all manufacturing facilities owned by the government.
In order to achieve the objectives in promoting public sector productivity, major activities are adopted such as the development of compendiums of best practices and success stories from public sector organizations; organizing trainings, multi-country study missions and demonstrations to obtain first-hand experience on practical application of productivity tools for the public sector; implementing seminars and workshops for knowledge-sharing on initiatives and plans on improve productivity in the public service; researches and diagnostic studies to understand the productivity needs and identify new and innovative ideas; and application of productivity tools and techniques from the private sector such as 5S, Kaizen, quality control, and quality management systems among others.
These interrelated elements respond to both internal and external environment of public sector organizations. Ultimately, the interventions performed by key stakeholders are targeted to result in greater citizen satisfaction, stronger public trust, cost-effectiveness, competitiveness of the organization and economy, and overall better quality of life.